Angelina Jolie And Bill Gates Are The World’s Most Admired People In 2018

Bill Gates and Angelina Jolie are once again the world’s most admired man and woman in YouGov’s annual study of which public figures the people of our planet look up to.

Tech pioneer and philanthropist Gates has topped the list every time YouGov has conducted the survey, while Jolie has also come first in each of the three surveys since 2015 when separate male and female categories were introduced.

In the US, former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama top the lists.

This year, the study expanded to cover the views of people in 35 countries – the most ever – and means that YouGov interviewed more than 37,000 people to compile the list.

Entertainers dominate the female top twenty, with 14 of the most admired women being actresses, singers or TV presenters (although some, like Emma Watson and Angelina Jolie, are also notable for their humanitarian work). By contrast, the list of most admired men contains more people from political, business and sporting backgrounds.

Former US presidential couple Barack and Michelle Obama occupy the two second place spots, representing a three-position rise for Michelle and no change for Barack. The 44th American president is 15 places higher than the man that replaced him – with Donald Trump going up one place since the last study. In fact, the last US president ranks higher than the incumbent in all countries surveyed bar one: Russia.